Doyle senses opportunities at Cheltenham

Victory on 150/1 shot Freewheelin Dylan in the 2021 Irish Grand National is the standout moment in Ricky Doyle’s career as a jockey so far but he’s hoping that he could have something to match that, or even surpass it, by the end of this week’s Cheltenham Festival.

He has just the two rides in the Cotswolds this week and while both should be in the reckoning, his best shot almost certainly comes in Wednesday’s Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase where he partners the Martin Brassil trained Desertmore House.

Third in the betting in the lead up to the Festival behind Gordon Elliott’s Favori De Champdou and the winner of last year's renewal, Gavin Cromwell’s Stumptown, Desertmore House has been many shrewdies idea of the winner of this race after an impressive win over the banks at Punchestown last November.

“It's the place you want to be, so to be going over there with two good chances is great,” said the Kildare Town jockey.

“It's what the early and cold mornings are all for, really, to end up in Cheltenham. So hopefully, everything goes to plan,” he added.

Doyle has experience of riding at the Festival in the past and as much as he recognises the importance of it, he’ll just be trying to treat the race the same as any other day at work where he tries to do his best for his trainers and owners.

“You kind of take the approach that you're going to work as a normal day and every race you ride in, you just ride as a normal race. I don't think you can let the hype get to you because you might do something that you normally wouldn't do. That’s my mindset anyway. It is great to be there but it's another day of work and you just give 100% and hope for the best,” said Doyle.

The Cross Country race is much different to any other race during the week that goes around the track and there is some extra preparation needed.

“You'd probably go through it an awful lot more in your head. With the different jumps and the twisting and turning you want to think about where you want to be at certain points of the course. You might think about that a bit more just to make sure you're tuned in. You go out with a plan and try to stick to it as much as possible,” said Doyle, who also said the drying ground should aid his chances.

The horse is trained by Martin Brassil in his yard near the Curragh and he is rightly known as a somebody who can get a horse ready for Cheltenham.

“Martin's a very good trainer and he doesn't bring them over for the sake of it. Desertmore House has taken to the cross country like a duck to water. Obviously he'd ran twice in Punchestown and was just touched off in his first run in the La Touche. He couldn’t have won any more impressively than the last day. We're hoping that he scoots around Cheltenham like he did at Punchestown and if he does that, I think with a light weight on his back, he should be bang there. He enjoys a bit of sun on his back so it looks like the weather is turning just in time for us as well,” said Doyle.

His second race of the week is in the second race on Thursday, the Jack Richards’ Novice Handicap Chase where he rides Ol Man Dingle for Wexford trainer Eoin Griffin.

He warmed up for Cheltenham with a win in those colours and for those connections on Lough Nigara last Thursday in Thurles and feels that Ol Man Dingle has the potential to go close in a highly competitive race.

“We were a little bit disappointed with the last day in the Drinmore but he never travelled on the ground, the ground was too testing for him, so you could probably mark up his run for that.

“I think going into a handicap now, if we get the drying ground and a clear run around he should give a good account of himself and hopefully be bang there.

“He's a horse with a bit of an engine and we hold him in high regard. You need a bit of class about you to even to win a handicap over there but we think he ticks all the boxes. I've sat on him a couple of times over the last couple of weeks, schooling him and working him, and he's in a great form. His preparation has gone very smoothly so we've no worries or complaints in that way,” said Doyle.